A Phoenix, AZ man was hospitalzied with extensive burns after batteries from an e-cigarette exploded, According to a report from ABC15.com. David Garcia says he was driving down the road when two extra e-cigarette batteries exploded in his pocket inflicting significant burns to his legs and hands.

Once the batteries exploded, the victim began suffering extreme pain and discomfort and desperately called his wife. The victim’s wife told ABC15 that, “He called screaming saying he was on fire. My eight-year-old daughter is the one who answered the phone.” The victim is currently spending time at a local hospital, where he is being treated for his wounds.

Faulty lithium-ion batteries

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has indicated that there have been 25 reported e-cigarette explosions in the past 9 years that e-cigarettes have been available to consumers. Under-reporting is also widely speculated so the true number of incidents could be significantly higher. They have concluded that the likely cause for most of these explosions is the faulty lithium-ion batteries that some brands of e-cigarettes use to power their devices. The batteries, when overheated, sustain an overload of pressure which causes the energy inside the battery to explode through the cap.

Furthermore, this is not the first e-cigarette explosion and FEMA has concluded that as the popularity of these devices increase as does the likelihood of future explosions, according to Attorney Marc Freund of LipsigLawyers.com. Another e-cigarette explosion occurred in England, where an e-cigarette that was charging behind the bar was projected across the room at a local barmaid.